Really? Maybe I got a bum cake the one time I tried it; I found the marzipan gritty, the cake mediocre, and the cream filling blah.

I really like the princess cake at Schubert's on Clement. Copenhagen's is also just as good, if not better. Here's a link to a princess cake tasting some 'hounds did: http://epicureandebauchery.blogspot.c...

In the city, I like Delessio's chocolate tower cake and Citizen Cake's white cake with lemony frosting and a thin berry filling.

When I was home over Christmas break, we had 3 or 4 princess cakes (from the Victoria Pastry in Marin)for when people came over for dinner, and always got the same product: unbelievably moist cake, smooth marzipan on top, and some creamy custard, and that faint taste of Grand Marnier throughout. Maybe we got lucky, maybe you got a bum one.

Whole princess cakes are completely different animals from the slices from a princess cake log--I think Nooodles & I have both had single slices from Victoria Pastry in North Beach. It wasn't any good--the barest layer of custard that tasted like instant vanilla pudding from a box with a bit of whipped cream. Worst of all, the single slices were pre-cut and the sides weren't completely covered by the small round doily they folded up, so the bottom of the slice was soggy and the top was dried out.

After my bad princess cake slice from Victoria, I tried Schubert's for a St. Honore cake, and it was at least as good as the St. Honore I had a few years back from Victoria. Best of all, Schubert's is near the public parking lot in Clement and has good prices, while Victoria is more expensive with impossible parking.

Ditto on your description of the cake. Thing is, Schubert's princess cake by the slice is far superior to Victoria's princess cake by the slice. And I don't see why they'd skimp on the (granted, horrible) custard filling for by the slice vs. a whole cake.

Further south, in Cupertino, La Patisserie on Stevens Creek Blvd., is consistently perfect in every cake we've purchased. The mocha chocolate is my daughter-units' favorite but I'm REAL PARTIAL to the lemon delight. Just typing this has set my mouth to watering.